Impact of dairy herd size on milk production cost, marketing and farm income in Peri-Urban areas of Faisalabad

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of animal concentration on milk production cost, marketing in peri-urban areas of Faisalabad, Pakistan. The study involved 75 respondents categorized as small (1-3 animals), medium (4-6) and large (7 and above) based on the ownership of their herd size. The farmers in the aforesaid categories were 38.3, 43.3 and 18.3% respectively. Income generation was the main purpose of rearing animals. Daily milk production in small, medium, and large farmers group was 4.3, 8.0 and 14.0 litres respectively. The average daily production of dairy animals was 1.8, 5.0 and 8.4 litres respectively in the above groups. Positive and strong relationship was found between herd size and production yield. The overall lactation yield in cattle and buffaloes was 1019.10 and 1425.20 litres respectively in the above groups. Milk sold was found to be 46, 60 and 68% in respect of small, medium, and large farmers respectively, while the rest was saved for domestic consumption. On overall basis, 50% of the total milk produced was used for domestic consumption. Buffalo was found to be preferred dairy animal than cattle most probably due to higher milk yield along with high butter fat contents. The cost of production per litre of milk produced by both cattle and buffalo from different categories ranged between Rs.15-16. Small farmers in particular were affected by rapidly increasing feed prices coupled with longer lactation length, calving interval and age at first calving. The major constraints identified by the farmers irrespective of their categories include lack of quality fodder, land holding, animal purchase, and lack of animal health cover, animal feeding guidelines, and training and credit facilities. As far as farmers response to the new innovations is concerned, artificial insemination (A.I) was still preferred way of breeding by the 80 % farmers. However, A.I use was found to be higher in medium farm group. Awareness about deworming and vaccination in the farming community was also found very low. It was inferred from the present study that animals' productivity can be enhanced only through better feeding management strategies along with better health cover.